Lluís Puig takes Catalan Parliament seat as Toni Comín takes oath in Madrid

Puig returns after nine years abroad

Lluís Puig, a former culture councillor of the Generalitat and a Junts deputy, arrived back in Catalonia on Wednesday, 21 October, for the first time in nine years since the 1 October 2017 referendum. That evening, at 19:30, he attended the 'Cants per la Llibertat' protest, held daily in front of Terrassa town hall since November 2017, in his home city. Junts secretary general Jordi Turull and parliamentary spokesman Salvador Vergés were among the party leaders who accompanied him. Puig thanked supporters for their backing during his absence and said the movement remained firm and resilient. He also accused the judiciary and the Spanish state of wanting to do politics without standing for election, and said the courts had lost nine years before doing what he believes they should have done in October 2017.

Puig takes his seat in the Parlament

On Thursday, 22 October, Parlament president Josep Rull received Puig at the chamber doors at 15:00 and later gave him the floor during the plenary session. Puig had withdrawn his request to delegate his vote, a practice he had followed in every plenary since entering the chamber, so that he could vote in person that afternoon. In his first speech from the podium since returning, he said that nothing begins or ends that day and that the struggle continues. Junts, ERC, the Comuns, the CUP and Aliança Catalana deputies applauded him, while PSC-Units and PP deputies remained seated. Puig removed the yellow ribbon that had marked his empty seat since the start of the legislature. Rull said it was 'an honour' to have him present, while noting that Carles Puigdemont's seat remains vacant.

Comín takes his oath in Madrid

Toni Comín, a former Catalan councillor who headed the Junts list in the June 2024 European elections, left Brussels by car on Tuesday night and reached Madrid on Wednesday, 21 October. On Thursday he collected his credential at the Junta Electoral Central, based at Congress premises, after promising to uphold the Spanish Constitution as a legal requirement. He said the oath was made out of loyalty to the people of Catalonia and to the mandate of 1 October 2017. Comín had won the party's only European seat but had not completed the Spanish legal steps for fear of arrest on setting foot in Spain, so the seat stayed empty. He said the Madrid appearance did not end his exile, which he expects to finish on Sunday, 25 October, when he plans to cross the French border on foot over a mountain pass, a walk of about 4 km with family and friends. He had first asked for 27 October but moved the date to avoid months of delay, and he hopes to take his seat in November for the plenary session in Brussels on 11 and 12 November. He answered no questions and complained that the summons was set before his planned return, which he framed as an attempt to disrupt his media plans.

Court decision behind both returns

Both returns followed a decision by Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena, who confirmed that the amnesty law applies to the embezzlement offence after a recent Constitutional Court ruling. The same decision definitively lifted the arrest orders against Puig and Comín, and the order against Puigdemont had also been withdrawn. Puigdemont's Parlament seat remains empty while he awaits the application of the amnesty, and he is expected back only after the general elections on 29 November.